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{{Short description|American historian of religion and minister}}

factoids

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US20132307|31}}| death_place = East Fallowfield Township, Pennsylvania, US| title = herald}}| children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = | website =



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| thesis_title = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = | discipline = Religious studies| sub_discipline = 1=

• Beloit College
• Gustavus Adolphus College

{edih}| doctoral_students = | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced = }}| signature = | signature_alt = }}Merritt Conrad Hyers (July 31, 1933 – March 23, 2013) was an American historian of religion and ordained Presbyterian minister.{{r|ConrandHyersFooterBio}} He taught for many years at Gustavus Adolphus College, and wrote multiple books on humor in religion and on Zen Buddhism.

Early life and education

Hyers was born on July 31, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{r|herald}}He earned a bachelor’s degree at Carson–Newman University in 1954, and a bachelor of divinity from the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1958.{{r|psb}} He then earned a master of theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1959, and completed his doctor of philosophy degree in theology and the philosophy of religion from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1965.{{r|gacobit}}

Academic career

He taught the history of religion at Beloit College and then, beginning in 1977, at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.{{r|gacobit}}In 1986 he was the inaugural winner of the Gustavus Scholarly Accomplishment Award of the college, “the highest accolade a Gustavus faculty member can receive for distinguished scholarly achievements”.{{r|award}}He retired in 1997.{{r|gacobit}}

Personal life

In 1977 and 1978, after first arriving at Gustavus Adolphus, Hyers and his family rented an 1850-era house in St. Peter. His son, Jon Hyers, later produced a feature-length film, The Haunting of North Third Street (2007), “an independent docu-drama” alleging that the house was haunted.{{r|nightmare}}Hyers died on March 23, 2013, in East Fallowfield Township, Pennsylvania.{{r|herald}}

Books

• Holy Laughter: Essays on Religion in the Comic Perspective (editor, 1969)
• Once-Born, Twice-Born Zen: The Soto and Rinzai Schools of Japanese Zen (1971){{r|rev1b2b}}
• The Chickadees: A Contemporary Fable (1974){{r|revtc}}
• Zen and the Comic Spirit (1975){{r|revzcs}}
• The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith: A Celebration of Life and Laughter (1981){{r|revcvcf}}
• The Meaning of Creation: Genesis and Modern Science (1984){{r|revmoc}}
• And God Created Laughter: The Bible as Divine Comedy (1987)
• The Laughing Buddha: Zen and the Comic Spirit (1989)
• The Spirituality of Comedy: Comic Heroism in a Tragic World (1996){{r|revsoc}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=WEB,gustavus.edu/provost/awards/scholarship/, The Gustavus Scholarly Accomplishment Award, Gustavus Adolphus College, Office of the Provost, May 17, 2019, JOURNAL,www.directionjournal.org/article/?1031, Comparing biblical and scientific maps of origins, Directions: A Mennonite Brethren Forum, 29, 1, 16–26, Spring 2000, Conrad, Hyers, See author biography at the end of the article.JOURNAL, Inside Gustavus, May 9, 2013,gustavus.edu/news/insidegustavus/20130509.php, 45, 27, Obituaries, NEWS, Zimmerman, Debbie, March 25, 2013, Merritt Conrad Hyers of East Fallowfield Township, Pennsylvania,www.southernminn.com/st_peter_herald/obituaries/article_3e58ec92-b41a-555a-afff-49bf6330fe59.html, St. Peter Herald, September 5, 2018, NEWS,www.mankatofreepress.com/news/lifestyles/nightmare-on-north-rd/article_0caf286e-da88-5e71-94ca-f292df280036.amp.html, Mankato Free Press, Amanda, Dyslin, October 17, 2007, Nightmare on North 3rd, JOURNAL, The Princeton Seminary Bulletin, 53, 4, June 1960, Students in the seminary, Candidates for the degree of doctor of theology in residence 1959–1960, 113–115,archive.org/details/princetonseminar5341prin, Review of Once-Born, Twice-Born Zen:

• JOURNAL, Collcutt, Martin, Summer 1991, 10.2307/132750, 2, The Journal of Japanese Studies, 132750, 372–376, none, 17,

Reviews of The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith:

• JOURNAL, Deedy, John, July 1982, 10.1177/004057368203900230, 2, Theology Today, 233–234, none, 39, 170175954,
• JOURNAL, Amore, Roy C., 171446684, September 1982, 10.1177/000842988201100326, 3, Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 347, none, 11,
• JOURNAL, Jones, Timothy L., Fall 1982, 2, American Humor, 42591222, 9, none, 9,
• JOURNAL, Crain, Maxine E., Summer 1983, 4, Christianity and Literature, 44311198, 41–42, none, 32, 10.1177/014833318303200413,

Reviews of The Meaning of Creation:

• JOURNAL, Gammie, John G., October 1986, 4, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 43717303, 718–719, none, 48,
• JOURNAL, Nebelsick, Harold P., July 1987, 10.1177/004057368704400214, 2, Theology Today, 264–266, none, 44, 170597099,

Reviews of The Spirituality of Comedy:

• JOURNAL, Garrison, Joseph M., April 1997, Book Notes, 10.1177/004057369705400129, 1, Theology Today, 140, none, 54, 220982896,
• JOURNAL, Houck, Anita, October 1997, 4, The Journal of Religion, 1206797, 676–677, none, 77, 10.1086/490115,
• JOURNAL, 10.1515/humr.1997.10.2.219, 2, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 219–220, none, 10, 1997,

Review of The Chickadees: A Contemporary Fable:

• {{citation|last=Craft|first=Carolyn M.|date=Summer 1975|issue=2|journal=CrossCurrents|jstor=24457659|pages=203–206|title=none|volume=25}}

Reviews of Zen and the Comic Spirit:

• JOURNAL,www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/m-conrad-hyers/zen-and-the-comic-spirit/, Kirkus Reviews, Review,
• JOURNAL, Franck, Frederick, October 1975, 2, The Eastern Buddhist, 44361441, 159–161, none, 8,
• JOURNAL, Kenney, J. Frank, Fall 1975, 10.1017/s0360966900012639, 2, Horizons, 284, none, 2, 171113140,
• JOURNAL, Rhode, Robert H., December 1975, 4, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1460802, 806–807, none, 43,
• JOURNAL, Lee, Karen J., April 1976, 10.2307/1398192, 2, Philosophy East and West, 1398192, 237–246, none, 26,
• JOURNAL, Craft, Carolyn M., Spring 1976, 1, CrossCurrents, 24458153, 116–121, none, 26,

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